DAYTONA BEACH, FL. - Lawson Aschenbach heads to the second round of the 2010 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season at Homestead-Miami Speedway as leader of the points standings with co-pilot David Thilenius.

The pair won the season-opening Fresh From Florida 200 in the Street Tuner class and hold a three-point advantage (35-32) over Seth Thomas and Bill Heumann. The car Aschenbach and Thilenius will drive won last year's race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and with Aschenbach having won four of his 11 career Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge starts, the 2009 championship-winning Compass360 Racing team is expected run near the front again on Saturday, March 6.

Since the Fresh From Florida 200, Aschenbach has stayed busy working on deals and programs. He took some time to answer questions on his programs, as well as running with Thilenius and Compass360 and what he expects for Homestead-Miami Speedway.


What has kept you busy since the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway?

LA: "Over the past few years I've become very motivated to explore opportunities inside and outside of racing and work hard on the Business-2-Business platform. Drivers can't just be drivers anymore; we have to become business-minded and work to create relationships and successful ventures. My goal is to make these programs a reality, so between meetings, phone calls and travel, I'm starting to get excited about the potential. I was also able to take a short family vacation and do a little coaching. So between all that and training, I've stayed quite busy!"


You have had a short but prosperous career in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, winning four races in 11 starts. How is it that you have adapted to these cars so well?

LA: "I've been fortunate to race for some extremely professional and successful teams in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, such as Motorsports Technology Group, Georgian Bay Motorsports and my current team, Compass360 Racing. All of these teams have worked hard to give me top of the line cars and they have everything in place to make my job easier! I'm always pushing myself in my preparation each weekend to become better, so it's great to be a part of teams that share that thinking."


How have you like working with the Compass360 Racing team so far? Has there been one thing this team has done better than any other with which you've worked?

LA: "It's been a great experience! Karl Thomson has truly put together a first-class operation at Compass360 Racing. Ray Lee, the technical director, has done an amazing job on these Honda Civic Sis and he has definitely done his homework. The car handles perfect when you're pushing it to the limits and the engines have great power. I would like to thank all our partners: HPD, Skunk2, OMP, Piloti and EB Performance. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and working hard on our title defense!"


Talk about David Thilenius. He has run a lot of laps in this series and has produced a lot of good results.


LA: "I personally didn't know David until Daytona, but I have to say I'm extremely impressed with his speed and professionalism. He did a great job during his stint at the Fresh From Florida 200 and handed over the car in perfect shape. We meshed together quickly and I think our driver pairing will be a force for 2010. I'm looking forward to working with him for the rest of the season."


Living in south Florida, do you expect a lot of people you know to be in attendance?

LA: "I had a bunch of friends come up to Daytona and I believe even more will be coming to Homestead-Miami Speedway. It's always great to have races near your home base."


You're heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway with the points lead in the car that won last year's race. What kind of shot do you think you have in attempt to going two-for-two this season?

LA: "We are going to be pushing hard to get the #74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si on the top of the podium at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Going two-for-two to start the season would be a great feeling and I believe we have a car capable to do just that! We are going to have some serious competition and I think many of the other teams will take a big step forward for the second race of the season, so we definitely have our work cut out for us."

(Article courtesy of GRAND-AM)

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(Lawrenceville, GA) -- Compass360 Racing (C360R) today released details of the team's marketing partnership with J.C. Concrete for the 2010 season. The program includes multi-tiered promotion within the paddock and to fans.

"I'm so pleased to welcome J.C. Concrete to the Compass360 family," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "We believe -- and I know they agree -- that the Grand-Am paddock is a great place to develop new contacts, friendships and cultivate new business."

J.C. Concrete (http://jcconcreteonline.com) specializes in delivering high-quality builds to multi-family residential and commercial projects in the southeastern United States. A family-owned business started thirty years ago, they are as comfortable building retaining and foundation walls for a massive 400-unit apartment complex of townhomes as they are pouring the post-tension slabs for a new restaurant.

"We're thrilled to be part of the Grand-Am community with a Championship team," enthused J.C.'s Senior Project Manager, Justin Stauffer. "We are really looking forward to taking advantage of the great opportunities presented by the series to grow our business."

J.C. Concrete will be one of the primary sponsors on the team's #75 Honda Civic Si, and will be taking advantage of at-track activation and hospitality for business partners and prospects.

Remarked Thomson, "There is a surprising synergy between J.C. Concrete's core competencies and other companies who partner with Grand-Am teams. This marks the first year in a multi-year program with J.C., and we're excited to introduce a new firm to the Grand-Am community."

GRAND-AM's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge starts its year this week with Test Days at Daytona, Florida. The series' first race is on January 29th, as part of the Roar Before the 24 in support of the Rolex 24 Hours of Dayona, and will be televised, tape-delayed on SPEED TV.

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Compass360 Racing (C360R) today released details on their third season-long driver pairing in GRAND-AM's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Both are newcomers to the Continental paddock but are seasoned racers who expect to make their mark in professional road racing.

C360R won all three GRAND-AM Street Tuner championships (Team, Driver and Manufacturer) in 2009, and the signing of a third full-season duo represent the commitment the team has in its championship defense.

San Francisco-based Gregory Liefooghe comes to the team after a break-out season competing in a various championships from formula cars, go karts and touring cars. Last year, Liefooghe won two races and finished third in the Jim Russell Championship, had several wins in Rotax and ICC races, finished on the podium in the Skip Barber Western series, and won the E1 class in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Jesse Combs, who hails from Woodlands, Texas, is no stranger to close-knit sports car racing, having competed in the Mazda MX-5 Cup series, finishing fifth in the championship in 2007.

The pair will drive Compass360's #76 Honda Civic Si and bring a new marketing partner to the team in the form of Coolgas, one of the largest distributors of refrigerants in the United States.

"I'm so excited to have the opportunity to race with the championship team in my first year in GRAND-AM," expained Liefooghe. "I learned a lot over the last few years and am looking forward to testing in Daytona next week."

Combs was equally enthusiastic. "I know the team will give us a competitive package, and I'm excited to be able to share data with the other Compass360 cars. It will be great to take the next step into a pro series."

Liefooghe and Combs join Lawson Aschenbach, Ryan Eversley, Zach Lutz and David Thilenius as team-mates in the iconic bright-orange C360R Honda Civic Si sedans.

"Jesse and Greg will make great team-mates in #76," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "They're both ready to move into pro racing and we're looking forward to helping them develop at this level. A note of thanks to the folks at Exclusive Management Inc. who were instrumental in putting the program together with Greg and whom we're looking forward to working closely with in the coming years."

The team also announced the addition of a fourth car for the entire Continental Tire Street Tuner season. "We have a bunch of guys who have driven with us in the last few years who time-wise can't commit to a full season, and the fourth car will be for them." Brothers Benoit and Donald Theetge from Boischatel, Quebec, will pilot Compass360 Racing's #77 Honda at Daytona.

GRAND-AM's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge starts its year early with Test Days at Daytona in early January. The series first race is on January 29th, as part of the Roar Before the 24 in support of the Rolex 24 Hours of Dayona, and will be televised, tape-delayed on SPEED TV.

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UrbanRacer.com just released their annual top ten All Star List and Compass360 Racing one of them for our stand-out 2009 GRAND-AM season. Also on the list was C360R alumni Billy Johnson for his Time Attack domination in the FactorX NSX.

Go team!

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Compass360 Racing today released details on their second season-long driver pairing in Grand-Am's Continental Sports Car Challenge. Long-time Grand-Am competitor David Thilenius will share the team's #74 Honda Civic Si with Lawson Aschenbach.

C360R won all three Grand-Am Street Tuner championships (Team, Driver and Manufacturer) in 2009, and these signings represent the commitment the team has in its championship defense.

Thilenius has raced in Grand-Am since 2005, most recently with Bill Fenton's Honda program, and his racing resume dates back to Formula Mazda in 1987. His career has includes seasons and wins in Grand Am Continental Sports Car Challenge, Formula Mazda, F1600, F2000 and the Firehawk Endurance Championship.

Aschenbach's resume features Grand-Am podium results, including a Daytona KONI win in 2009. He drove for the General Motors factory Team Cadillac program in 2007, won the SPEED World Challenge GT Championship in 2006 and has been a part of four manufacturer's championships, including Chevrolet's KONI title in 2008.

Thilenius and Aschenbach join Zach Lutz and Ryan Eversley as team-mates in the iconic bright-orange C360R Honda Civic Si sedans.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to add two more top drivers to our team," said Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Dave's been one of the guys I've wanted to have drive with us for years, and Lawson really kept us on our toes last season when he drove the Cobalt. These two guys have both stood on the top step of the podium and know what it takes to win races and a championship. By combining them with Ryan and Zach, I think we've got the best driver line-up in the paddock."

Compass360 Racing made history last year by being the first team to sweep the podium, with a dominant performance at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Not only did they win the Grand-Am Championship triple-crown but also took third in both the Driver's and Team points, once again being the first in the series ever to do so.

"I enjoyed driving for Bill Fenton the last three years," explained Thilenius. " I spent way too much of that time chasing these orange cars, so I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to race for Compass360 with a great co-driver like Lawson. Lawson has been quick in everything he's ever driven. We have a great team behind us and a championship-quality car in the Civic, so I'm looking forward to a great season."

For his part, Aschenbach was equally excited. "I had such a strong start to the year in 2009, and Compass360 was the team to beat. It was always neck-in-neck. So it's amazing to be here to go for the championship with David. I'm really looking forward to driving the Honda at Daytona and to notching some more wins for the team."

Grand Am's Continental Sports Car Challenge starts its year early with Test Days at Daytona in early January. The series first race is on January 29th, as part of the Roar Before the 24 in support of the Rolex 24 Hours of Dayona, and will be televised, tape-delayed on SPEED TV.

Compass360 has been on the podium at the season-opener every year since 2007, and hopes to continue that tradition in 2010.

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(Toronto, Canada) -- Grand-Am's 2009 Street-Tuner Championship-winning team Compass360 Racing (C360R) today announced the first of their season-long driver pairings by signing Ryan Eversley and Zach Lutz to drive one of the team's Honda Civic Si's.

"C360R is extremely pleased to welcome two great drivers to our team in 2010," enthused Team Principal Karl Thomson. "I've wanted to have Ryan on our team for some time, and know he'll be a great co-driver for Zach, who really stood out as one of the great talents in Mustang Challenge last year. We're going to once again bring our A-game to defend our championships, and these guys are a key part of that effort."

Lutz, who impressed in his first season of Mustang Challenge competition last year, started racing in Quarter Midgets at the age of five. In his teens he moved up to Legends, and then shifted his focus to road racing with NASA in a variety of cars, including an Audi TT, Mustang Cobra and finally at GTS-2 BMW 325is. He won two Grand National Championships and the TT-D Championship in 2007. He rounded out last season with his best result of the year, fourth, at the season-ending race at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. "I'm so excited to have the opportunity to move another step up the ladder and to compete with a top team like Compass360," noted Lutz. "It's the next logical step for me, and I'm looking forward to getting on the podium and fighting for the Championship next year."



Eversley is no stranger to the Grand-Am paddock. His career started as a mechanic with Archangel Motorsports in 2001, which quickly led to a ride with the team in their ST cars. He drove a handful of races with Kinetic's E92 M3 program last year, leading the season-ending race at VIR with just minutes go before being taken out by a competitor in dramatic style. "I'm so excited to be able to join Compass360 in 2010! Everyone in the paddock knows they are the team to beat and hopefully I can help them keep that reputation!" exclaimed Eversley. "My Dad once told me to succeed in life you must surround yourself with the best people and for 2010, thats exactly what Zach and I have done."

Compass360 Racing made history last year by being the first team to sweep the podium, with a dominant performance at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Not only did they win the Team, Driver's and Manufacturer's Championships, but also took third in both the Driver's and Team points, once again being the first in the series ever to do so.

"We really had an amazing season last year," said Thomson, "and it's going to be hard to top that. But we've been pretty consistent over the past three seasons, and I know we'll be up to the fight with Ryan and Zach."

Lutz and Eversley will take to the track in their iconic orange-and-black liveried Honda during Grand-Am's test days at Daytona in early January, and at the first race coming shortly thereafter at the 24-Hours of Daytona weekend on January 29th, 2010.

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PakExp Racing's Brian Makse asked C360R Team Principal to join them for the season-ending NASA 9-Hour Enduro at Road Atlanta in the team's championship-winning #786 Honda Civic on December 2nd. Also on the team is Jack Baruth, who drove with C360R at VIR this year. "It's going to be great fun driving one of PakExp's super-light Hondas in Georgia," enthused Thomson. "Surprisingly, Road Atlanta is one of the few great North American tracks I've never raced at, and I'm looking forward to going flat out with Brian and Jack."

The team will contest the E2 class win, building on Makse's PTE championship earlier in the year.

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Compass360 alumni Jack Baruth, Billy Johnson, Jose Leroux and Kevin York have been busy over the past few months. Click the "Read more" link below to find out what these lads've been up to...



Jack Baruth, Master-Jedi of Internet Fame -- who had his first outing with Compass360 at the season-ending VIR event in October --was recently tapped as The Truth About Cars star journo compete in GM's Cadillac CTS-V Challenge. Unsurprisingly, he was top of the charts in the Caddy, after his eye-searing-green Audi S5, which he brought along as a competitor to the Caddy, lost its brakes. Read the whole sorry tale here. Just a few days prior Jack climbed the podium at Laguna Seca at Skip Barber's inaugural Mazdaspeed Media Challenge, once again representing TTAC. Baruth is one of four drivers who will compete in the upcoming NASA 9-hour enduro at Road Atlanta, alongside C360R Team Principal Karl Thomson.





Billy Johnson, who drove with us in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and is currently factory driver for Rousch Racing's KONI Mustang effort, took a dominant win in the Redline Time Attack season finale at Auto Club Speedway in the absolutely wild FactorX Acura NSX. Billy Big-Time was overall winner (and now track record holder) with a time of 1:36.103 beating the old record of 1:38.3. Check out some fun video of the event here.





Jose Leroux, who led the 2009 KONI Homestead race during his stint in our #75 Honda, recently won the Dominican Touring Car Championship. Piloting his newly-painted Acura TSX (which interestingly was our Grand-Am Championship winning #76 car) with Caterpillar Sponsorship, Jose took a dominant victory, his second in as many years. Details on the series here, and here.




And alphabetically last, but decidedly not least, the master of The Art of Racing in the Rain -- Kevin York -- who drove with us for the 2008 season, was back at his old stomping grounds in the northwest. WCTC's Team OYorDunFor finished a very respectable fifth in class and ninth overall in the 34th annual 12 Hours of the Cascades held at Portland International Raceway, where the conditions ran the gamut from dry to torrential downpour and all variations in between. Check out Kevin's report here.

As we put together our final driver line-up to defend our KONI Championships, it's nice to see our alumni being successful in other series as well. Congratulations and well done lads!

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Last weekend at Virginia International Raceway, Compass360 Racing won all three Grand-Am Street Tuner Championships: Team, Driver (Christian Miller) and Manufacturer (Honda). The marks the first Grand-Am championship not just for our Team or Christian, but also for Honda. We scored every point for Honda this year (meaning that we were the top-finishing Honda in all eleven races), and we're immensely proud of what we accomplished this year.

A full race report will follow in the next few days, but as our crew returns home to unload the rigs and retire for a few days well-deserved rest, we'll enjoy the feeling of a hard-won championship; one that we've been so-close-to-winning for three years.

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Congratulations to Nick Wittmer and Lombardi Racing on taking their first championship in the Canadian Touring Car series! The bright yellow-and-black Lombardi Honda Civic Si's faced a tough battle from other Honda-powered cars (including a couple of Acura RSX-S's), as well as some surprisingly quick Subaru WRX's. But the year-long battle was with the four BMWs of GT Racing. In the end, the Wittmer took the title, relegating the bimmers to second and third place.

Lombardi is a long-time C360R client, and we assist them with technical and parts development. Well done Lombardi and Nick!

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2009) – Christian Miller wasn’t sure how much he was going to run this season in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge.

Following a solid performance in the 2008 Street Tuner (ST) class, Miller was expected to compete sparingly with Compass360 Racing, one of the top teams in the series, in a Honda Civic Si. He would start off in January’s season-opening Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway, and go from there.

Yet, when the opportunity came for the San Jose, Calif., driver to drive with veteran Randy Pobst, he jumped at it. The pair finished 12th at Daytona, but jumped to the top of the point standings with a victory in March’s Fan Appreciation Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The pair also won at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and Miller has never looked back.

Now, in this Sunday’s season-ending Bosch Engineering Octoberfest at Virginia International Raceway, Miller will try to complete his championship run and earn his first-ever Grand-Am championship. He owns a 31-point advantage (286-255) over Andrew Aquilante and Kristian Skavnes, who also entered last year’s season finale at VIR second in the points.

With 35 points available for the victory, and Miller holding the victory tiebreaker to Aquilante and Skavnes, Miller would need only to finish 27th.

It doesn’t seem likely that Miller would finish that low. Aside from that 12th-place result at Daytona, he has finished no lower than seventh since. His aforementioned victories are a part of five podium finishes and seven top-10 finishes this season.

They haven’t all come with Pobst, however, who is third in the standings, only 20 points behind Skavnes and Aquilante. Pobst had other commitments running against two of the KONI Challenge ST races, therefore giving Miller an edge over his veteran co-driver.



Miller and Pobst will drive Compass360 Racing's #74 Skunk2/034 Motorsport Honda Civic Si at VIR, while Skavnes and Aquilante drive the No. 111 Subaru of America Subaru Legacy.

If Miller goes onto win the championship, the No. 74 would also give Compass360 its first-ever KONI Challenge team crown. Team owner Karl Thomson and Billy Johnson were second in driver points two seasons ago in the No. 74 Acura TSX, while Adam Burrows was second in 2008. It would also give Canada its second consecutive team owner championship. Last season, Georgian Bay Motorsports won with Canadian driver Jamie Holtom. Ironically, Holtom will be driving Compass360's #75 for the VIR event.

Despite such a strong season, Miller and VIR have never completely warmed up to each other. Miller’s best finish in three VIR starts is 13th. Meanwhile, Pobst have four starts, with a GS II class victory with TPC Racing in 2003.



The championship race became twofold following the race Sept. 18 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. In that race, Ian Baas and Josh Hurley finished second, which was enough for them to grab second in the points. However, officials ruled unauthorized engine modifications on their No. 171 APR/Gunther VW Volkswagen GTI, as well as the team’s No. 181 APR/BBS Volkswagen GTI, were carried out, and neither car nor driver earned championship points. However, APR Motorsport kept its victory, and will be shooting for its fifth victory of 2009. The No. 181, driven by Dion von Moltke and Mike Sweeney, has a season-high three wins, while Baas and Hurley won once in the No. 171.

Pobst and Miller join von Moltke and Sweeney as the only other drivers with multiple victories this season in the ST class.

Practice for the event begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, with qualifying at 3 p.m. The four-hour race is scheduled to start at noon Sunday.

Courtesy Grand-Am.

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Compass360 Racing alumni Billy Johnson has been on a tear lately. Not only did he take his first Grand-Am KONI Grand Sport win in Utah two weeks ago, he dominated the field and placed first overall in last weekend's Redline Time Attack at Spring Mountain Raceway in Pahrump Nevada, piloting his FX Motorsports NSX to victory in the Dsport Unlimited RWD class while securing the overall victory as well, unofficially turning the fasted time ever at Pahrump in a production based car.

Nice to see Billy bring a Honda back on the top step again. Well done!

Full story here.

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TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QUEBEC – The streets of Le Circuit de Trois-Rivières are like second nature to Benoit Theetge of Boischitel.

This Saturday, Theetge will once again compete in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the 1.521-mile temporary circuit playing host its 40th year of racing. He will drive in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge, as a co-driver to Christian Miller, the point leader in the Street Tuner class.

Theetge began competing at Trois-Rivières in the early 1990s, and has a handful of wins at his home track. However, none have compete in the KONI Challenge, which is a successor series to the Motorola Cup that toured Canada during the previous decade.

Theetge and Miller will drive the #74 034Motorsport/Skunk2 Honda Civic Si for Compass360 Racing of Toronto. Last season, Compass360 fielded the winning machine – an Acura TSX – for ST winners Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood, as well as three other cars. This season, the #74 has two victories – both with Miller and Randy Pobst – and overall, Compass360 Racing has three wins in eight races. With Pobst busy racing elsewhere this weekend, Theetge steps in, and hopes his efforts will award him with a share of the victory.

"No doubt, Trois-Rivières is a special track for all of us," said Theetge, who will make his first KONI Challenge start of the season Saturday. "Even though good drivers are competitive there, there are challenges – the braking zones, the walls. The walls can be intimidating – if a driver is scared of them, they will lose a second or so. I have been competing at Trois-Rivières since 1992 or 1993, and I skipped a couple of years there, but by the time I started competing in Motorola Cup, I was competitive."

Theetge has four KONI Challenge starts at Trois-Rivières – three in ST and one in the Grand Sport class – with a best finish of third in 2001 with another Quebec driver, Jocelyn Hebert of Becancour.

"Honestly, I believe I am on the best team out there," said Theetge, who has led laps in each of the last three KONI Challenge ST races at Trois-Rivières. "But racing is racing. The last three years, I led – 20 minutes from the end, 40 minutes, an hour – but never came up winning. Typically, the track is hard on brakes, but this year, I don’t believe it will be because the race is only 90 minutes. There will be a lot of different strategies. I know the car will be competitive and I will be competitive – it’s my home track.

"I have won there before in other types of cars, but I am not thinking about that right now" Theetge concluded. "I want to drive well and get the maximum amount of points for Christian to keep his championship alive. Those are my goals."

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By any measure, Matt Bell has had a break-out season in his very first year competing in the top Grand Sports (GS) class of Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competition, setting new track records as well as taking a record number of pole positions after kicking off the year with a dramatic win in the season-opening race at Daytona.

But one thing he hasn’t done since move up to GS is run the second half of the endurance events as his team has tapped the youngster for his qualifying and race-opening talents, a strategy that has paid dividends with Bell leading over 70 laps so far this season.

However this weekend, Bell will not only get to run the opening stint of the GS, but he’ll also get a shot at closing the Street Tuner event on Saturday as he returns to compete in the ST class with series powerhouse Compass360 Racing. Bell will be sharing the driving duties with Bret Spaude, who will qualify and open the race before turning the No. 75 Honda Civic Si machine over to Bell to charge to the finish.

Bell raced a BMW in the ST class in 2008 as he stepped up to KONI Challenge after success in the BMW Club racing ranks. The chance to build his front-wheel drive resume with a strong team was one that Bell didn’t want to pass up, even though it will make for a busy weekend for the Daytona winner, with the ST Class race on Saturday evening ahead of the GS Class event on Sunday.

“This is going to be a busy weekend!” joked Bell. “But it’s a great opportunity for me to race for Compass and I want to thank Karl (Thomson, C360R principal) for making this possible. This is the kind of weekend drivers really look forward to. Qualifying and starting the races in GS has been really satisfying, but I’m also looking forward to running to the checkered flag on Saturday. I learned a lot about racing in KONI last year, but I feel like I have some unfinished business and hopefully we can make it back to the podium this weekend.”

Compass360 Racing has made quick work of the deployment of the all-new Honda Civic Si, taking 3 wins -- including a series record-setting 1-2-3 podium-dominating performance at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Bell will also have the advantage of some level of familiarity with the car, after having impressed the team in testing the car at Mid-Ohio in June.

“Matt really impressed us when he tested the car last month, so we’re happy that he’s able to join us this weekend at Barber,” said Thomson. “This has been a great season so far for us, and hopefully Matt and Bret will add another chapter to that this weekend. He’s been really strong in GS this year, and we’re excited to see him close out the race on Saturday night for us.”

Practice begins Thursday morning with a track practice day, followed by practice Friday afternoon and qualifying Saturday morning. The two-and-a-half hour ST race is scheduled for 2:50 PM on Saturday, with the GS race slated to start at 8:20 a.m. Sunday.

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Compass360 Racing's #36 Acura TSX will be part of the historic return of the Toronto Indy this coming weekend. The Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship is on the ticket for this fantastic event, which is one of the biggest sporting features of the year for the city. With nearly 100,000 fans expected to attend, it's certainly one of the highlights of the Toronto summer.

Driver Dave Ciekiewicz is looking forward to tearing down Lakeshore Boulevard in the C360R black-and-orange Acura. "This event is going to be awesome," he enthused. "The Touring Car field is so competitive and there will be a lot of cars jockeying for position. The goal is to try and stay with the lead pack and keep out of trouble."

Team Principal Karl Thomson is equally excited. "This really is the jewel in the crown of Canadian Touring Car, and has to be considered the premier event in Canadian motorsport. Being a Toronto-based team, we know there will be a lot of fans and friends who will be coming out to watch the races."

Held just west of downtown Toronto on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition and making use of a long stretch of Lakeshore Boulevard, the Indy is one of the best temporary road circuits in North America. With the IRL open-wheel cars making their return after a one-year hiatus, the weekend promises to be full of great racing. This means that drivers and teams will need to arrive with cars well set-up as there is minimal track time.

Ciekiewicz current sits thirteeth in Super Touring points, but well within striking distance of eighth place. As fans have come to expect, the CCTCC racing is very close and the drivers will have to be careful at Toronto, where a small mistake can result in a very costly meeting with the concrete barriers that surround the track.

Practice and qualifying for the CCTCC cars takes place on Friday, with one 30-minute race each day on Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday race starts at 3:45pm, and the green flag drops on Sunday at 10:00am.

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Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Marketing Communications, a firm offering branding expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America. The Championship-winning race team, with support from Honda of America, fields three Honda Civic Si's in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge, as well as the #36 Acura TSX in Canadian Touring Car. For details visit http://C360R.com and http://compass360.com .

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Cory Linton sent us a screen grab of the C360R Canadian Touring Car TSX that he's recently completed for the video game GTR Evolution. He's done an amazing job of getting the livery spot-on and the car looks amazing. Very cool, Cory! If you want a copy of the car, contact Cory here.

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LEXINGTON, OH -- Those looking to find Jamie Slone behind the wheel of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge “Media Car” will have to set their sights on a different paddock, as a healthy chapter of seat swapping will take place this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

As Karl Thomson returns to make his second Ford Racing Mustang Challenge start driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang FR500S this weekend, Slone and fellow Mustang Challenge racer Ted Anthony Jr. have been tabbed to co-drive the No. 76 Compass360 Racing entry in Sunday’s EMCO Gears Classic in Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competition.

That the distinctive black and orange KONI Challenge Street Tuner (ST) machine will be piloted by Slone and Anthony is little coincidence, as Thomson runs the KONI Championship-leading Compass squad.

The seat swap of sorts represents part of the partnership between the Mustang Challenge, as Compass360 was responsible not only for re-designing Mustang Challenge.com, but also anchors the production team that collaborates to create the videos that celebrate the excitement that Mustang Challenge creates every race weekend.

"I’m really excited to have Ted and Jamie join C360R this weekend, and I’ve been really impressed with their performance in testing so far today," said Thomson, who is hoping the two add to Compass360 Racing's impressive season to date, having scored three wins so far. "It’s a busy weekend for me, going from wearing a helmet to race in Mustang Challenge to wearing the headset as a KONI Challenge team owner, but I love it and this is really a great opportunity for everyone."

Slone’s competition focus this weekend has him in a different mode from his last few on-track outings, which have seen the Arizona-based racer behind the wheel of the Media Car providing rides to media members during the race weekends.

"With those rides, I'm all slide-ways, just trying to give them a taste of some of the excitement of being in the car," said Slone. "But of course, that’s not fast! So this is completely different mindset for me. I was really excited to hook up with C360R this weekend and to having Ted as my co-driver. I’m just trying to soak up that I can. I was on the top step of the podium here at Mid-Ohio last year in Mustang Challenge, and to get the chance to try and do it again in KONI Challenge this Sunday is something I’m really looking forward to."

The front wheel drive outing also has another added benefit for Anthony Jr., the same precious resource that all racers chase: seat time.

While his co-driver Slone was the winner in the Mustang Challenge event in 2008, this weekend marks the first time that Anthony has taken to the twisty and challenging 2.258-mile circuit in rural Ohio as he works to strengthen his position in the Mustang Challenge championship standings.

"This is great for me because even though the cars are obviously a lot different, the more laps you have at any track, the better," said Anthony. "Also, this car really responds well to smooth inputs with the throttle, and I know that is going to pay off when I get back into the Mustang. Compared to Mosport last weekend, this track couldn’t be more different, so I’m happy to get as many laps in as I can and am really looking forward to the chance to race twice this weekend!"

The move to front wheel drive equipment is also a fresh experience for Anthony Jr., who had but one day of on-track action in front wheel drive machinery so far in his career.

"It was when I was about 16 years old, driving my dad's daily driver Jetta at PIR, so not really what you would call a lot of experience!!" joked Anthony.

The EMCO Gears weekend will continue with practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday in advance of Sunday's 1:30 PM race start.

Labels: news

KONI Challenge team leader ready for Mustang Challenge Debut at Mosport

Toronto, ON -- The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Media car, which has seen a wide range of drivers jump in to experience the competitive nature of the Mustang Challenge through the 2009 season, will add a new name to its roof this weekend as Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge entrant and racer Karl Thomson will race this weekend as the series heads north to Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario.

Thomson, who has five wins as a driver in KONI competition to his credit, has been racing professionally since 2004, primarily in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge. Thomson has a KONI podium streak that stretches back to 2005. As lead driver and team owner of Compass360 Racing, the Canadian has raced a variety of cars including Acuras, BMW's, Mazda's, Porsches and the Hondas the team currently fields.

The Mustang Challenge race appearance marks a return to the cockpit for Thomson, who has stepped away from driving for the moment to focus on his role as team owner. He’s done so to excellent effect, as his C360R KONI squad made history at New Jersey Motorsports Park as the team scored a remarkable 1-2-3 finish, the first in KONI history.

Thomson calls Toronto home and has been racing at Mosport since he first scored Rookie honors in the 2003 Canadian Touring Car Championship, and is relishing the chance to strap back into the car and go racing this weekend.

“Anytime you get the opportunity to race at Mosport, it is something you look forward to as a driver, so to get the chance to drive a Ford Mustang there this weekend is one that I’m really excited about,” said Thomson. “Even though I have a lot of experience driving at Mosport, I know that I will be racing against guys who have a lot of experience in these cars so I have pretty realistic expectations for the weekend. Although I will admit that from what I have seen of the races, the guys fighting for a spot in the top ten seem to be having just as much fun as the guys trying to race to the podium, so I am really looking forward to this.”

The Mosport weekend, part of the traditional Fathers Day weekend event at the Ontario facility, will get underway with practice on Friday before setting the grid in qualifying on Saturday. Round 7 of the 2009 Mustang Challenge season is slated to take the green flag at (11:00 AM) on Sunday.

About Ford Racing Mustang Challenge:
The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge is a new professional racing series co-developed by Ford Racing and Miller Motorsports Park. Utilizing the new Ford Mustang FR500S and sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association, the Mustang Challenge series is a support series to major professional road racing events across North America. Mustang Challenge is an affordable, challenging platform for racers who want to compete in a V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive car on a level playing field that showcases driver ability in high-profile events. A competitive point structure and generous purses make the Mustang Challenge The Place to Race!

Labels: news

Compass360 Racing announced today that the team will return to Castrol Canadian Touring Car (CCTCC) competition in 2009, fielding an Acura TSX driven by longtime team driver David Ciekiewicz.

The move marks a further expansion of the C360R Road Racing program, which ironically began with CCTCC in 2003, when Team Principal Karl Thomson took Rookie of the Year honors, before moving the team to Grand-Am's KONI Challenge series full-time in 2004.

"I'm just thrilled to be driving for Compass360 again," enthused Ciekiewicz. "We've had some good fun together in KONI over the past few years, and I am looking forward to fighting for the Super Touring championship this year in my TSX!"

"We've wanted to get back into Canadian Touring Car, and partnering with Dave provided the ideal opportunity," noted Thomson. "We've been very successful with our KONI program over the past five years, making history a few weekends ago in New Jersey with a podium sweep. We're keen on extending that success back into the Canadian racing scene."

Indeed, sponsors already on board include Skunk2, OMP and K&N, who are keen to expand their footprint in Canada. "We see an opportunity to use the C360R Canadian Touring Car program to increase awareness of our products north of the border," commented Skunk2 President Dave Hsu. The team's TSX will make use of a number of Skunk2 performance enhancements throughout its powerplant and drivetrain.

The signature matte-black-and-neon-orange #36 TSX will make its first appearance at Mosport's High Octane Weekend, June 12-14th. It promises to be an exciting event, featuring the Canadian Touring Car series alongside the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Ford Racing Mustang Challenge, and more.

Labels: news

(Courtesy Grand-Am)

Compass360 Racing has dominated at The Glen in ST action in the past two seasons. Two seasons ago, Johnson made a last-lap pass to give himself and Karl Thomson victory, while 2007 class co-champions Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood garnered their first series victories in 2008. Both wins came in Acura TSXs.

The transition to the Honda Civic Si has not endured much of a challenge thus far, as Compass360 has earned three victories in five races this season and owns first, third and eighth in the team standings.

Christian Miller leads the driver standings by eight points (143-135) over rookies Pat Iannucci and Lawson Aschenbach. Miller drives Compass360's No. 74 034 Motorsport / Skunk2 Honda Civic Si with Randy Pobst, a 2003 overall winner at WGI. The pair have combined for two wins in 2009. Travis Walker, entered in the No. 75 Skunk2/C360R.com, sits eighth in points after winning at Lime Rock, and has finished on the podium in three races. He is teaming with New York native John Kuitwaard, who shared the car with Walker for the duo's first KONI win.

Full text that will only be showed on item pages.

Labels: news

Monterey, CA -- Compass360 Racing's Toronto-based crew has hauled the team's three Honda Civic Si's across the country to the beautiful Laguna Seca track nestled on the picturesque Monterey peninsula of Northern California. Hoping to continue their strong 2009, C360R has assembled another impressive driver line-up.

Californian Christian Miller, who lives an hour away in downtown San Jose, is looking to notch his third straight first-place finish in the 034 Motorsport / Skunk2 / C360R #74 Honda. With Miller's regular co-driver, Randy Pobst, competing across the continent at Mosport this weekend, the team drafted 2008 KONI Street Tuner Champion Jamie Holtom for the task of helping Miller to stay at the front of the Driver's Championship.

Although this race marks Holtom's first race of 2009, he tested with the team in the fall of 2008. The Laguna race marks his first time competing in a Civic. "I've raced against these Hondas for so many years, I'm looking forward to trying one on for size," laughed Holtom.

Holtom is no stranger to two other members of the C360R, having competed with them in go karts for many years before they all graduated to sports cars in the KONI Challenge. Matt Pritiko and Travis Walker will once again share the CanadianRacers.com / Skunk2 / C360R #74 car. After two podium finishes in the first three races, the young duo look to solidify a place at the top of the Championship, currently sitting in 5th place.

"It really is an important weekend for us in the points," Pritiko said. "With another good finish, we can be right in thick of the championship hunt. I know the Compass360 guys will have all three cars prepared really well, and I am looking forward to an exciting weekend of racing."

New to the team is Bret Spaude, who will co-drive with Team Owner Karl Thomson in the Skunk2 / K&N / C360R #75 Civic. Spaude is competing with rival Bill Fenton's team, but will race with Compass360 for those events that Fenton does not attend this year, as he is in contention for the Mesco Rookie of the Year. "With Bill sitting this race out, it made sense to drive with Karl and Compass360," noted Spaude. "After seeing them make history by putting three cars on the podium at New Jersey I'm looking to notch a good result here at Laguna."

Miller is equally excited. "This being a home race, we've got lots of friends and family out to entertain our sponsors. We're obviously working hard to finish first for them."

"We're doing our best to put together strong driver line-ups in each of our cars," remarked Thomson, who finished first at Laguna in 2007. "We pulled off a miracle in New Jersey, and I doubt we'll ever see a dream result like that again very soon, if ever. But I think we've got an equally strong group for Laguna, and we're excited to race on Saturday."

The KONI Challenge race starts at 3:00pm on Saturday, May 16th, and will be televised tape-delayed on SPEED on May 23rd at 12:00 noon.

-------------------

Photo Credit: Sideline Motorsports Photography, reproduction rights granted.

Labels: news

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic -- Compass360 Racing today released details of their driver line-up for the upcoming KONI Sports Car Challenge race at Homestead/Miami raceway this weekend.

The team is proud to announce the addition to their roster of Dominican Touring Car Champion, Jose Leroux, who will drive the team's #75 Honda Civic Si with Bo Roach, from Tulsa, OK.

Leroux is a long-time competitor in the competitive DTS Dominican Touring Series, most recently taking the championship in 2008 in his #12 Mobil 1 Honda Civic. This marked Jose's second consecutive DTS crown, and his Honda experience should pay dividends at Homestead. "I'm excited to be driving for Compass360 in Miami," enthused Leroux. "I think of it as my 'home' track in the U.S.!"

Roach, who co-drove the #75 Civic to a tenth-place finish at the KONI season-opener at Daytona in January was equally excited. "We had a good run on the high-banks, and I'm looking forward to improving on that in Miami."

Leroux and Roach will join what is arguably the best driver line-up in the KONI Challenge. Canadians Matt Pritiko and Travis Walker will hope for another podium after finishing third at Daytona, while veteran road-racers Christian Miller and Randy Pobst look to build on the front-running pace they showed in that race.

The KONI Sports Car Challenge race at Homestead/Miami Speedway is the headline event at Grand-Am's Fan Appreciation Weekend. Infield tickets are available for free, courtesy of Grand-Am, and promises to be an action-packed, exciting weekend. For tickets, visit http://www.grand-am.com/konitickets

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Tooele, UT -- (4 March 2009) – The 2009 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge season is about to kick off next weekend at Homestead Miami Speedway with Rounds 1 and 2, but things are already charging ahead on-line as the Mustang Challenge has gone live with a new look and feel at www.mustangchallenge.com.

The site was developed in conjunction with series partner Compass360, a branding and advertising agency which also operates C360R.

"This new site really reflects the vision of this series," said Mustang Challenge Marketing Director Jamie Slone. "The Mustang Challenge is as much about the drivers and teams as it is about the cars. To finish at the front, the team has to nail the set-up just right, and the driver has to deliver a perfect performance with no mistakes."

"The new site celebrates everything that's great about the series: the Mustang, the drivers, the teams and the tracks! For our season-openers at Homestead, we've got nearly twenty cars registered with competitors returning for their second year, as well as some new faces. We're going to be able to share the event with people around the world with the new video capabilities that we’ve built in to the site. All of our racers will carry GoPro cameras in the car, and that door-to-door footage will be finding a great home on our site, plus all the news and photos and driver backgrounds you could hope for!"

With an RSS feed as well as hooks into YouTube, Flickr and Facebook, the new mustangchallenge.com gives fans a multitude of ways to experience the series in the virtual realm through the best social networking tools.

The Mustang Challenge races at Homestead will be staged as part of the Grand-Am Sports Car Challenge Fan Appreciation Weekend, which is giving race fans the opportunity to attend the race free of charge. The series will stay in warm climes for rounds 3 and 4, as Mustang Challenge becomes the racing focal point at the 45th Anniversary celebration for the Ford Mustang, April 17-19 at Barber Motorsports Park.

Labels: news

Compass360 Racing today announced that Christian Miller and Randy Pobst have been signed to drive the team's #74 Honda Civic Si for the 2009 KONI Sports Char Challenge season.

After a strong showing at Daytona, where the duo were immediately comfortable with each other and their Civic Si, the Team is excited to extend that relationship for the rest of the year. "Randy and Christian are one of the best driver pairings in the series," remarked Technical Director Ray Lee. "They worked well together, and are great team-mates."

Miller and Pobst join Matt Pritiko and Travis Walker as season-long drivers for C360R. "We've got two pretty remarkable sets of full-time drivers for 2009," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "We're very lucky to have four guys of this caliber driving for us. Travis and Matt did a great job at Daytona by finishing third, as it was a sprint race from beginning to end, with Chris and Randy right in the thick of it as well."

"I can't tell you how excited we are to secure Christian and Randy this year," added Thomson. "Randy really is one of the best drivers around, and to be able to pair his amazing talent with Chris, who impressed when he drove with us last year, is a dream come true."

Miller qualified fourth at Daytona, and Pobst ran as high as second, fighting for the lead with just a few laps to go before he had to pit for a quick splash of fuel, dropping him down to 12th. "The racing competition was among the most intense and satisfying of my entire career," said Pobst. "The racing was so close, with four or five cars racing back and forth for the lead. Really great stuff. The car was so well set up. It was fun to be in a Honda again with the high reving VTech engine. It howls like a race engine. I love that sound."

The next KONI Challenge race is at Homestead/Miami Speedway. Grand-Am is offering free tickets to the infield as part of their Fan Appreciation Weekend. If you want to have a chance to see great racing, absolutely free, visit http://www.grand-am.com/konitickets

Photo credit: Sideline Motorsports Photography.

Labels: news

Inside Track News Magazine released their nominees for their annual motorsports awards today. The team is excited to announce that C360R driver Matt Pritiko was nominated as one of Canada's Up-and-Coming Road Racers of the Year.

Pritiko is in his third season in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge. Two years ago, the London, Ontario, driver began his career us before moving to Ottawa's Predators for the 2008 season. This year, Matt is back with Compass360, and is teamed with fellow Canadian Travis Walker.

Ironically, Walker was the winner of this very award in 2006. The duo started 2009 well with a third-place finish in the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway, driving our #76 Honda Civic Si.

Vote for Matt by visiting the Inside Track News survey page.

Labels: news

The Toronto Star's John Larson was at Daytona for the KONI and Rolex races, taking more of his award-winning shots. A collection of them, including a great shot of the start of the KONI race, were featured in the Wheels section this Saturday. Nice work, John!

Labels: news

The team had a great day, taking top spot in both practice sessions, with two different cars. Randy Pobst turned a 2:09.1 in the first session, his first time in the #74 Honda Civic Si he shares with Christian Miller. In the second practice, Matt Pritiko put in a 2:09.4 in the #76 Civic he and Travis Walker will drive in tomorrow's race.

In qualifying, the guys gave it their all, drafting and freight-training as best they could, finishing up in a remarkable 4th, 5th and 6th positions. Even more interesting, the cars qualified in numerical order: 74, 75 and 76!

Andrew Acquilante's Subaru Legacy is on pole, but we're thrilled with such a strong showing from all three of our Hondas...

Labels: news

(As posted on Randy's website) With the Daytona speedweeks right around the corner, Randy The Rocket will join Compass360 Racing in one of their Honda Civic Si's.

Led by Team Principal Karl Thomson and Team Manager Ray Lee and based in Toronto, Canada, Compass360 (C360R) has been making a name for itself in recent years, winning races and finishing fourth in team points and second in driver points with Adam Burrows in the 2008 KONI Street Tuner class.

Compass360 will field three cars in the Daytona KONI race, with old World Challenge buddy Christian Miller co-driving with Randy. While this is a great ride with a top team, what makes this ride so special is that former co-driver and long time friend Peter Schwartzott will also be joining the team for the Daytona race in one of the other C360R Hondas. Long time Rocket fans will remember that Randy and Peter had great success in the 1980's and 90's, winning many races and championships, including four consecutive Watkins Glen 24 Hour races, a record that is not likely to be broken. Though they eventually went their separate ways in racing, they have remained great friends.

"I am very pleased to be joining the Compass360 team in Daytona and thrilled to
be racing Hondas again with Peter after all these years. We were very
successful in the past as co-drivers and always had a lot of fun. We won't be
driving the same car this time but that will give us the chance to race together
on the track. I know my co-driver, Christian Miller, from the World Challenge
Touring series when I was driving the Tripoint Mazda and he was driving a VW
Jetta. He is a good driver and good friend. The Compass360 Hondas will be
very competitive. I am really looking forward to this opportunity."

Labels: news

Toronto, Canada -- Compass360 Racing (C360R) today announced their driver line-up for Grand-Am's KONI Sports Car Challenge in Daytona. The race, which kicks off the 11-race 2009 KONI series, marks the end of a three-month off-season for the team.

"As always, we aim to win," says Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Within our team, we've got the history and the future of sports car racing in North America!" The team has signed Touring Car veterans Randy Pobst, Bo Roach and Peter Schwartzott to join their young stars Christian Miller, Matt Pritiko and long-time team driver Travis Walker.

Pobst and Schwartzott are absolute icons of street stock racing on this continent, ironically having campaigned together in the early 1990's in Honda CRX's and Preludes. "Being a Honda team, we are so excited to bring Randy and Peter back into the fold," remarked Technical Director Ray Lee. "Having these two with us is like a revival of the glory days of Touring Car."

The glory days of Touring Car are alive and well in the KONI Challenge, with 31 cars currently entered for the Street Tuner Class alone (an additional 30 are on for Grand Sport, for a 60+ car field). ST offers a remarkable variety of cars on track, which will include three new Compass360 Honda Civic Si's, competing with new BMW 328's and Z4's, Subaru Legacy's, MINI Coopers, Chevy Cobalts, Mazda MX-5 Miatas, VW Golf GTI's and many others.

C360R's line-up for Daytona includes:
Honda Civic Si #74: Christian Miller and Randy Pobst
Honda Civic Si #75: Bo Roach and Peter Schwartzott
Honda Civic Si #76: Matt Pritiko and Travis Walker

The line-up includes a number of C360R alumni: Miller, Pritiko, Schwartzott and Walker have all driven for the team in recent years. "I think that shows we've been doing things right," said Thomson. "Our drivers who try other teams seem keen to come back to drive with us, and I think that's a reflection on the great group of guys we have on our crew." Indeed, Walker has been with C360R for most of his professional career.

Interestingly, Pobst and Roach are the only drivers of the line-up who have not driven for C360R, and they've been strong competitors in recent years (with Pobst most recently in a VW GTI and Roach in a series of Chevrolet Cobalt SS's). "I'm just so excited to be a part of the Compass360 Racing team," said Pobst. "I know they'll give Christian and me a great car that can fight all the way the to the checkered flag!"

But great cars are nothing without great drivers. "Being able to bring this kind of driving talent is very important," noted Lee. "This is endurance racing and we need two drivers in each car who understand that to finish first, first you must finish. Patience must be balanced with speed; that's what wins." With great support from Honda of America, the team is bullish on three strong results.

C360R is no stranger to the Daytona podium, having been on the box for the past two seasons with their now-retired Acura TSX's. Thomson, with co-driver Walker were third in 2008, while Thomson and Billy Johnson took the win in 2007.

"We've done everything we can to put these new Civics on the top step this year," said Thomson. "Ray and our full-time crew have been working on improving the cars since we ended the 2008 season at VIR. We know the competition is still going to be very strong, and we have to bring our 'A' game. With this driver line-up, I think we've got what it takes!"

The KONI Challenge race schedule starts on January 22nd in Daytona, Florida, and will be televised on SPEED.

Labels: news

Toronto, Canada -- Compass360 Racing has added another long-time Grand-Am competitor to their driver roster. Christian Miller, who drove full-time with the team last year, returns to drive one of C360R's Honda Civic Si's in 2009.

"We're so glad Christian's joining us again," enthused Team Principal Karl Thomson. "He had a great year in 2008, but I feel we have a little unfinished business to take care of: Chris really deserved a podium last season!"

In fact, although Miller had six top-ten finishes (including a remarkable five sixth-place results), he and initial co-driver Kevin York were the only C360R driver pairing who were denied a top-three finish in 2008. Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood took two wins last year (at Watkins Glen and Trois Rivieres) and were second at VIR, while Thomson and Travis Walker were third (at Daytona), as were Jeremy Willard and Ken Wilden (at Iowa).

"After Mosport last year we did our best to give Christian a good co-driver who would help him to bring that top-three finish home, and for a variety of reasons, it never worked out," noted Thomson. "We're looking to resolve that this year!"

Miller worked with the team developing the new Civic Si platform throughout 2008, and is bullish on the car's prospects. "I've come to know these cars pretty well," he remarked, "and (Technical Director) Ray Lee sure has put together one heck of a package. We worked on improving a lot of little things last year and I think the new C360R Hondas will be strong from the get-go."

Interestingly, all of the drivers signed to the team are alumni: Travis Walker has been with the team since 2005. Matt Pritiko began his KONI Challenge career with Compass360 Racing in 2007, and Thomson's been part of the Grand-Am community since 2003. "We've got a solid group of drivers who have proven results in the series, and specifically with our team," noted Lee. "We'll be finalizing our line-up for our Hondas over the next few weeks and are confident we can once again field equal team cars that can challenge for race wins and the KONI championship."

The KONI Challenge race schedule starts on January 22nd in Daytona, Florida, and will be televised on SPEED.

Labels: news

Toronto, Canada -- Compass360 Racing today released further details of of their driver line-up for 2009 with the announcement that London, Ontario's Matt Pritiko has re-joined the team to compete in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge series.

Pritiko was a part of the team's roster in 2007, notching four top-ten finishes, including an exceptional fourth-place at Trois-Rivieres. He finished an impressive 15th in the overall standings in his rookie year.

Matt's return to Compass360 Racing coincides with the team's move to Honda Civic Si's, after successfully campaigning Acura TSXs over the past two seasons.

"We've worked with Honda of America on the marketing objectives for 2009," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "We'll be moving from the TSX to Civic Si, using the KONI Challenge as a platform to demonstrate the fact that the Si is a 'giant killer'."

Compass360 Racing's KONI program pits the pocket rocket Civic Si against cars that fight at higher price-points in the showroom, including the BMW 330i and Z4, Subaru Legacy, Mini Cooper S, Mazda RX8 and VW GTI.

Pritiko is an ideal pilot for the new Civic. "Matt is an analytical and deliberate driver," said C360R Technical Director Ray Lee. "He's a team player and the consumate professional."

Indeed, Matt is a World Karting Association Champion. In 2005 he was selected by Ron Fellows to join the Team Sunoco Ultra 94 program to compete in the Bridgestone/Firestone F2000 series where he claimed second overall. Perhaps most importantly, Matt's performance both on and off-track earned him the David Preston Sportsmanship Award.

Matt will also be testing with North Carolina's Corrie Slott Racing in their Arca/ReMax car over the next few months. This is a great opportunity for Matt, and further proof that the crossover between Grand-Am and other NASCAR-owned series will continue, which is good for drivers and teams alike.

The KONI Challenge race schedule starts on January 22nd in Daytona, Florida.

Labels: news

Travis Walker is one of those guys who is just naturally gifted when it comes to driving a race car. Some have talent, but have to work that little bit harder to eke out the last few tenths. For Travis, quick lap times are something that come with seemingly effortless ease. That's not to say those laps don't come without effort, it's just that they seem to come more naturally.

Compass360 Racing (C360R) reported today that Travis will once again be an integral part of the C360R KONI Sports Car Challenge team in 2009. He's been with the team since 2005 and has been impressively successful in every series he's competed in.

"I'm so excited to be back again with my team, the guys I have been with since the beginning of my road racing career," exclaimed Travis. "They gave me my first win in FAQ and first podium in Grand-Am. I know we can go for a championship this year!"

T-Walk, as he's affectionately known in the paddock, started his career in go-karts, winning two championships in the 2002 Grand Nationals. Like many karters, he made the move to sedans; for Travis it was the famous Honda-Michelin series which re-surfaced in the early 2000's. Competing with top-running Canadian drivers including the Wittmer brothers, Travis earned the distinction of being the youngest-ever driver to win a Honda-Michelin race.

Travis impressed in his first-ever Grand-Am Cup race at Mosport in 2005, where he finished third. That same season he won the FAQ championship in an Acura RSX-S our team prepared. In 2006 he was voted Inside Track's "Up and Coming Road Racer of the Year" by the readers of Inside Track Magazine.

In 2007 Travis started the season with C360R, but was quickly signed by Blackforest Motorsports to drive their GS and GT-class Mustangs alongside Quebec's Valerie Limoges and Alex Tagliani.

Building upon T-Walk's success in 2008 with the Ccompass360 Racing team (Travis and team owner Karl Thomson finished third at Daytona), he'll be returning to full-time competition with C360R this year with an eye to taking the title.

"Travis is one of those guys who just fits with our team," noted Technical Director Ray Lee. "He's always able to go out and lay a fast lap down when we need him to in practice, and he knows how to manage the car so there's enough left to go for the win at the end."

Travis is one of a number of talented young drivers that will be calling Compass360 Racing home next year. The team will be announcing the other 2009 drivers in timed announcements over the coming weeks.

Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Marketing Communications, a firm offering branding expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America. For details visit http://www.C360R.com or http://www.compass360.com

Labels: news

The build on our 2009-spec Honda Civic Si was finished yesterday, just in time for it to be shipped to SEMA in Las Vegas, where it will be on display in the Honda of America pavillion. The car sports our new livery, featuring bright orange and matte black paint, as well as the new C360R wordmark.

We'll be posting photos from Vegas next week.

Labels: news

While Grand-Am's Rolex teams were en route to Daytona for their October test days, Compass360 Racing spent some time doing testing of our own at Mosport International Raceway.

Conveniently located just an hour from the C360R shop, Mosport is the site of some of our team's greatest successes, including the dramatic win in 2007 by Billy Johnson and me in the team's #76 TSX. The team used the test time to baseline its new platform, the Honda Civic Si, against the outgoing TSX.

Our test drivers swapped between the #76 TSX and our development Civic over the course of the day, allowing us the opportunity to evaluate not only the cars but the guys behind the wheel as well.

Despite the inclement weather, which featured a rainy, wet track and oppressive fog at times, we did a lot of work over the course of the day, especially as the track dried (before it rained again). For me, the chance to drive both cars in the wet was a welcome opportunity, as I've not had the chance to drive in the rain for a few years. And I love the rain!

So too did the drivers who attended, including team regular Travis Walker, warming up for what will be his fifth Grand-Am season next year. Jamie Holtom, who as 2008 KONI ST Champion beat us out for top spot this year, relished his opportunity to take the helm of one of our cars (one of which hounded him at nearly every race!). Matthew Bell, who impressed in his first season in Grand-Am this year (driving the #95 Turner BMW), was quickly up to speed in his first time in a front-wheel-drive car on a wet track. And newcomer Kevin Tyndall, who's had great success in Van Diemens, stunned us with fast lap times in every session.



So the driving talent was all there, even if the weather wasn't.

At the end of the day our crew chief Ray Lee had gained some more valuable data from the drivers that will help us to refine the development of our Civic Si's. We think the Hondas will prove very competitive, as the platform already managed to win a race this year at New Jersey. We plan on running three of our new 2009-spec Civics in the KONI Challenge next year, with our two TSX's and RSX-S moving to the Canadian Touring Car Championship (a series that runs eight weekends in Ontario and Quebec, including an event at Mosport).

For me, it was great to spend the day with great talents like Jamie, Kevin, Matt and Travis. Even though it rained, we had a good time, compared notes and enjoyed the opportunity to jump from car to car without the pressure of a race weekend.

Watch for my review of 2008, as well as my SEMA report over the next few weeks. In the meanwhile, we continue to refine our driver line-up for next season. Of which more anon...

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It's almost scary how Christian Miller started the 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Street Tuner (ST) season. The Californian, driving for Karl Thomson's Compass360 Racing team finished the first four races on the schedule in the same position - sixth.

"It was a hell of a year," Miller said, ironically, after the season. "Karl was awesome to drive for."

But that's not the whole story. In addition to taking another sixth-place finish later in the year, and six top 10s overall, Miller drove four cars with eight different co-drivers en route to finishing 10th in the standings.

His season started with the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway, where he drove with Kevin York in an Acura TSX. The duo, which was supposed to be teamed together throughout the entire season, returned to sixth at Lime Rock Park, where Miller finished for the first time in his career.

"I had raced at Lime Rock five times coming into the season," Miller said, "and this year was the first time I had finished there, so that personally was a highlight."

And while many things stayed the same at Mosport International Raceway, the season changed drastically at Compass360's home track. In practice, York was involved in an accident, totaling the car and forcing him out of competition for a short period.

With that TSX out of commission, and the Honda Civic Si destroyed in an accident at Lime Rock, Miller earned the assistance of Travis Walker to the team's unretired Acura RSX. Together, they finished sixth.

"And that basically started the round-robin of drivers," Miller said.

Billy Johnson, who moved to the Grand Sport (GS) class fulltime for the 2008 season, returned to ST competition at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and he helped Miller in another sixth-place effort. The luck - call it good or bad, depending whether you're superstitious or not - changed at Watkins Glen International, where Miller and Beau Buisson finished 23rd.

Miller entered into development of a new Honda Civic Si at Iowa Speedway, and he drove the car in each of the final five races. He was eighth at Iowa Speedway with Benoit Theetge, and sixth - again - with Theetge in Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.

Then the bad luck returned. Running fifth with 10 minutes remaining at Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Miller and Nicholas Rondet's No. 74 machine was involved in an accident, which dropped the duo back to 33rd at the finish. Even worse, they failed to secure any points.

In the penultimate race at Miller Motorsports Park, Miller and Robb Holland were trying to earn more points, and were running third on the last lap before running out of fuel and finishing 22nd.

"That was the hardest loss," Miller said.

A 15th-place finish in the Bosch Engineering Twin Six Hours at Virginia International Raceway dropped Miller - who was co-driving with Buisson and Johnson - to 10th in the standings.

"In each of those instances (New Jersey, Miller Motorsports Park and VIR), the car was there," Miller said. "In fact, the car was there in every race...The first half of the season, we had some good luck; the second half, a little more bad luck."

Miller said he is pursuing another year of driving for Compass360 Racing in 2009.

(Originally published on Grand-Am.com)

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Congratulations to C360R alumni Billy Johnson for his third straight GS podium this year. On the box at Trois Rivieres as co-driver of Ray Mason's Rehagen Mustang, then with LP Dumolin in the MTG MZ4 Coupe at Thunderbolt, and back with Mason in Utah.

Billy still wears his Compass360 Racing uniform and we're looking forward to him being back with us for the season closer at VIR.

Labels: news

C360R is the subject of a two-page feature story in this month's (September) issue of Inside Track magazine. "We're really thrilled with the story," remarked Team Principal Karl Thomson. "(Author) Wally Nesbitt did a great job with the interview and told a really balanced story of how Compass360 Racing came to be one of Grand-Am's premier teams."

"It's also great for our technical partners Honda, Skunk2 and K&N, all of whom got great coverage," said Thomson. "And because Inside Track used shots of our #73 Acura TSX, Pure Shampoo and Body Wash who sponsor that car received extra exposure."

Pick up a copy of Inside Track on newsstands now, and download a high-res JPEG of the article here.

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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - NASCAR Holdings today announced an agreement to acquire Grand-Am Road Racing (Grand-Am). The future move will allow for resource sharing between Grand-Am and NASCAR while both organizations continue to operate independently. This is great news for Compass360 Racing, which is currently the largest team operating in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge.

Grand-Am, one of the world's most competitive road racing organizations, and NASCAR, the No. 1 spectator sport in the U.S., will combine marketing and communications efforts to include brand management, research, marketing and public relations.

"We're excited to have access to NASCAR's research and marketing resources," remarked Team Principal Karl Thomson. "It's a win for the teams, a win for Grand-Am and also expands NASCAR's footprint into road racing."

Grand-Am consists of six racing series, including the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, which has millions of loyal fans.

"This combination of resources will benefit Grand-Am and NASCAR, their competitors and fans, as the two companies work together to enhance the two sports," said Jim France, NASCAR Vice Chairman and Grand-Am founder.

The two racing brands will continue to independently sanction and officiate race events for their own series and there will be no change in management. Roger Edmondson will continue to serve as president of Grand-Am.

There has been a rise in crossover drivers and team owners between Grand-Am and NASCAR in recent years. NASCAR drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon have raced in the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Full time driver and 2008 Grand-Am Daytona Prototype team champion Scott Pruett has driven in many NASCAR events. Chip Ganassi and Richard Childress own teams in both sports.

Grand-Am Road Racing was established in 1999 and is based in Daytona Beach, Fla. The 2008 schedule includes 15 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series events and 11 Grand-Am KONI Challenge events. Other Grand-Am racing series include Ferrari Challenge; Ford Racing Mustang Challenge; Skip Barber Racing Series; and the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series.

NASCAR, celebrating 60 years of racing in 2008, holds 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in more than 30 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and, as a result, more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.

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Millville, NJ (26 August, 2008) -- With wins in two of the last three races, 2007 KONI Challenge Champions Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood are the hottest drivers in KONI competition as the series gathers once again this weekend for round 8 of the 2008 championship season at a new venue in the Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Burrows and Hopwood, who doubled up their win tally on the season with a fantastic run to the checkered flag at Trois Rivieres a fortnight ago, will look to add their names to the history book with another strong run to the podium in the No. 76 Fischer Skis Compass360 Racing Acura TSX on Saturday in the first professional race at the freshly built 2.25-mile 14-turn New Jersey Motorsports Park facility.

“This track is going to be new for everyone, and that gives us even more confidence because we know that Compass will have the Fischer Skis Acura TSX all sorted, and we both have a lot of experience learning new tracks quickly, so this should be another good weekend for us,” said Hopwood. “We switched it up for Trois Rivieres with me qualifying and Adam finishing the race and that obviously worked out well, so we will see what strategy Ray Lee has us on this weekend.”

“There are going to be nearly 70 cars on this track, which isn’t that big, so being smart and patient with the mixed class event is going to be really important,” said Burrows. “Winning races was a big goal for us and now we have the taste for it, we’re pretty hungry to do it again! The Compass360 guys have done an awesome job with the car and we’d like to take as many championship points as we can from the weekend. We know we have a lot of ground to make up, but there is a lot of racing yet to go this season, so we’re going to try to make the most of this weekend.”

A promoter test day will open the weekend on Thursday, with Friday practice preceding Saturday’s qualifying session. Sunday is scheduled for an early 8:45 AM race start.

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Trois Rivieres, Quebec -- Kenneth Lau, car chief of Compass360's #74 Honda Civic, took to the track this weekend in the Castrol Canadian Touring Car races. On Saturday afternoon he piloted the #39 Durabond Honda Civic to a solid second place, and followed that up with a fantastic win on Sunday morning. Best of all, his team's other Hondas, driven by Rapone brothers Andre and Andrew, finished second and third, giving them a clean sweep of the podium. Congratulations guys!

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Watkins Glen, NY (5 July, 2008)— Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood raised eyebrows during the 2007 KONI Challenge season, impressing with pole position qualifying efforts and scoring a record-breaking number of podiums to take the championship in their rookie year of KONI competition.

Despite the accomplishment, the two were still frustrated by the one thing that their KONI portfolio was missing—a victory. So just two weeks after a disappointing race outing at Mid-Ohio, the duo decided to move their focus to victory lane rather than the champions banquet.

That decision paid immediate dividends on Saturday night, as the two combined to take a thrilling maiden Watkins Glen 200 race win in the in the No. 74 Fischer Skis Acura TSX campaigned by Compass360 Racing.

Burrows started the race from third on the grid, and moved into the lead before turning the car over to Hopwood, who returned in 55th position overall. Hopwood replicated the field-scything skills he showed at Lime Rock Park, moving forward to second position with just over 15 minutes remaining before battling for the lead, taking it, and then never looking back.

“Trevor and I are thrilled to be on the top of the podium,” said Burrows. “We’ve worked really hard this year to adjust to racing a front-wheel drive car and we came to grips with it a little bit more at Mid-Ohio. Obviously Trevor did a great job to get us back to the lead at the end. This Fischer Skis Acura was great all weekend. We had a good run in qualifying, and the race was fantastic. We took a chance with our strategy and Ray Lee made a great call to bring us in when he did. It was a little bit of a gamble but it came back to us perfectly, and I couldn’t be happier to take this win with Trevor and now who knows what lies ahead with this championship.”



“Yesterday was my parent’s anniversary so they weren’t here this weekend, but this is the best gift I could give them,” said Hopwood. “I want to thank Fischer Skis and Compass360 Racing, they gave us a great car again. I also want to thank Karl (Thomson) for giving us this opportunity and Ray Lee made a great call. Winning the championship with a friend and teammate like Adam was a great experience, and now to be on the top step of the podium in KONI is really fantastic. Tom (Long) and I had a great battle-side by side for several corners, several laps, and never touched each other so that was great. It’s great to get this monkey off our backs after what happened at Mid-Ohio so this is a great payback to the team. I’ve had a lot of wins here at Watkins Glen, but this is the best one of them all.”

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